EDITORIAL

Are We Missing Something?

Are we missing something here?
While the world expresses outrage that
an allied bomb blew up an Iraqi air raid
shelter, or command post, allegedly killing
hundreds of innocent people, where was
that same outrage when Saddam sent Scud
missiles into residential areas of Tel Aviv?
And while we regret and find sorrow with
any civilian death associated with war,
let's not forget that the Iraqis would un-
doubtedly be sending gas-equipped Scuds
into non-military Israeli targets had they
the technology.
In the scorecard of war, does it take hun-
dreds of deaths to produce world outrage? If
200 Israelis were killed in their sealed
rooms, would the world cry? Or would CNN
and the other electronic media experts br-
ing into our living rooms the jubilant reac-
tion of the Palestinians?
Are we not getting it?
Iraq's foreign minister Tariq Aziz ac-
cuses the allied forces of not fighting a
"manly" war by staging almost all of its
offense from the air instead of the ground.
Those that complain about the
"manliness" of the fight are the same val-
iant soldiers who sent nerve gas into their

own unarmed Kurdish people. These are
the same "men" who hide their weapons
and command centers among their women
and children. These are the same men who
give safe harbor to the world's most noto-
rious terrorists.
And this is the same country that engag-
ed Iran in eight years of battle, killing
hundreds of thousands of human beings.
Then Saddam returned to Iran the land
that his troops died for.
In August, when President Bush com-
pared Saddam Hussein to Adolph Hitler,
he was on the mark. It's one thing to ask
the world to say "enough" to Saddam Hus-
sein. But when will the Iraqi people, them-
selves, say "enough?"
We know that Saddam did not have this
deep love for the Palestinian people prior to
this conflict, so his linkage of the war to the
issues of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are
all too convenient and face-saving.
We'd love to see peace among Arabs and
Jews in the Middle East. But the world, in-
cluding the Arabs, needs to recognize that
peace will not happen during Saddam Hus-
sein's lifetime.
Or, are we missing something here?

Encouraging Intolerance

Israeli Prime Minister Shamir's decision
to bring into his cabinet the Moledet party,
whose one-issue platform calls for the
"transfer" of Palestinians out of Israel,
only encourages intolerance.
Rehavim Zeevi, the leader of Moledet, is
the ideological successor of Rabbi Meir
Kahane. Though Israelis respect Mr.
Zeevi's military background, his espousal

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of the expulsion of Palestinians unwilling
to leave Israel voluntarily must be repu-
diated as racism.
Bringing Mr. Zeevi into the cabinet may
make political sense, bolstering the
majority and making Mr. Shamir look
more moderate by comparison. But on any
other level it was a mistake, lending
legitimacy to a dangerous philosophy.

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I LETTERS

The Sacrificing Of
Jonathan Pollard

We often lament "never
again." Now is the time to
speak up so it will be "never
again."
A Jew is being sacrificed on
a political altar as punish-
ment to Israel. We have been
intimidated to remain silent;
therefore, Israel too kept
silent. Jonathan Pollard's
punishment does not fit his
crime.
"When bad men combine,
the good must associate; else
they will fall one by one, an
unpitied sacrifice in a con-
temptible struggle?'
— Edmund Burke, 1770
When I became acquainted
with all the facts, I'm asham-
ed I was silent this long.

Dr. Sidney Leitson
West Bloomfield

Inter-Agency
Criticism

Thank you for your
editorial "War at Home is Se-
cond Front" (Feb. 8) which
highlights and supports the
1990 findings and interpreta-
tions of the Anti-Defamation
League's annual audit of anti-
Semitic incidents. As an in-
dividual very involved in
Jewish communal activities,
I am disheartened, however,
to see the Detroit Free Press'
(Feb. 7) second front page ar-
ticle, "Hate Crime Grows/
Jewish Groups Disagree on

6

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1991

Significance" wherein the ex-
ecutive director of the Jewish
Community Council publicly
disagrees with how the ADL
has interpreted its findings.
One of the ADDs primary
functions is the annual audit
of anti-Semitic incidents
around the country. My ques-
tion: What purpose does it
serve for the Jewish Com-
munity Center to contradict
the ADL and why are they do-
ing their own studies, beyond
the ADL's of anti-Semitism on
college campuses?
I am concerned with this
conflict as it impacts much
needed programming, inter-
agency and community rela-
tions and the expenditure of
precious dollars duplicating
studies already in existence.

Nancy Kurland Simpson
Detroit

Jews As Victims,
Peace-Lovers

While I agree with Gary
Rosenblatt's major tenet (Feb.
1) that Jews are regarded
with more sympathy by the
rest of the world when we are
Victims, some of his minor
points disturb me.
It bothers me to charac-
terize attempts at peacemak-
ing as being a Christian thing
to do. It is worse when a Jew
makes such assertions, rein-
forcing stereotypes about defi-
ciencies in the "old" religion

Continued on Page 12